"Fia, thanks for calling!" (Zavilia)
However, in contrast to my confusion, the black dragon spoke cheerfully.
"Zavilia...? Right?" (Fia)
Yes, that high, clear voice belonged to Zavilia.
"Huh? Have you forgotten about me already?" (Zavilia)
The large, beautiful black dragon bowed his head dejectedly. I hastily stroked the black dragon's scales.
"N-no, that's not it. Zavilia, haven't you grown bigger? Your wings and body have grown big, your scales are shiny and bright, and you're completely different from how you were four months ago." (Fia)
"Hehehe, I'm in my growth period. I'll get bigger, you know." (Zavilia)
"Growing? Huh, Zavilia, how old are you?" (Fia)
"0 years old" (Zavilia)
"Ze, zero――――!!" (Fia)
A sudden baby announcement! They said dragons live a long time, so I thought he'd be much older.
"Z-Zavilia-chan, it's okay. Mama Fia will take care of you. Just eat a lot—?" (Fia)
"Hehe, dragons and humans age differently, so in human terms I'd be around 12 to 13 years old. I'll become an adult dragon in less than half a year." (Zavilia)
"Ah, I see. I mean, are you going to get even bigger?" (Fia)
"Yes, I'll probably be twice as much as it is now, you see." (Zavilia)
Ugh... I was at a loss. I was worried that Zavilia would be bullied by other monsters, so I was thinking of taking his home if he agreed, but maybe it might be a bit difficult with his size. Besides, he wouldn't fit in my room.
Looking at me curiously as I was lost in thought, Zavilia asked me.
"Is something wrong? Can I help?" (Zavilia)
"If it was okay with you, I was thinking of going home with you, but you were bigger than I thought, so I thought you wouldn't fit into the building." (Fia)
"What? Are you going to take me?" (Zavilia)
Zavilia's blue eyes began to sparkle.
"Yes, that was my intention, but the size of Zavilia..." (Fia)
"Then I'll become smaller!" (Zavilia)
With that, Zavilia got smaller and smaller. And finally, he became small enough to fit in both of my palms.
"Z-Z-Za-Za-Zavilia. Hey, what are you doing? Ah, are you okay? Won't doing that affect your growth?" (Fia)
"Yes, it's okay. This isn't the transformation into a baby form that happens when I'm injured, it's just shrinking." (Zavilia)
"Heh, heh――……" (Fia)
To be honest, I didn't really understand the difference, but I'd go along with it. The bigger problem was...
"Zavilia, can you change the color? The only creatures with black wings are black dragons, so I don't think black would be a good color no matter how much you shrink them." (Fia)
When I said that, Zavilia looked visibly downcast.
"...I'm sorry, Fia. I'm proud of the color black, and that feeling gets in the way so I can't change it." (Zavilia)
"I see. In that case... hehe, I've got a good idea! Zavilia, can you hunt bird-type monsters?" (Fia)
"That's a simple matter, Fia. I've never seen your good ideas lead to good results." (Zavilia)
As he spoke, Zavilia returned to his original size. Then, he asked, "Could you cover your ears for a moment?" So, I covered my ears, and Zavilia opened his big mouth and roared.
"GROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRR!!" (Zavilia)
The earth shook and the air trembled.
Then, far away, something fell from a tree.
"Ah, there were no monsters near the entrance after all. I'll go and retrieve them." (Zavilia)
With that, Zavilia flew away on his large wings, leaving me there in a daze.
Haha, ha, he defeated the monster with just one roar...
I lost all my strength and collapsed to the ground.
What should I do? Zavilia is a lot stronger than I thought.
This was bad, it looked completely different from the last time I saw him. With the previous Zavilia, maybe it would have been okay to introduce it as familiar, but with the current Zavilia, that's no good. Maybe this is at a level where it could become a big problem. I didn't know the familiar levels of the other knights, so I couldn't say for sure, but I had a bad feeling about this. ...So, I'd just wait and see.
After a while, Zavilia returned with about a dozen monsters in his mouth. I chose two bluebird type monsters from there and put them in my bag.
"Zavilia, is it okay for you to come with me right now? If there's someone you want to talk to, I'll come and pick you up at a convenient time." (Fia)
Upon hearing my question, Zavilia looked downcast and nodded.
"It's okay. I've been alone for a long time..." (Zavilia)
"I, I see... So, can you become smaller?" (Fia)
As I spoke, I unbuttoned the top few buttons on my uniform.
Then, I placed the now tiny Zavilia inside my uniform and buttoned it up as far as I could.
"Are you feeling better, Zavilia? Just bear with it until we reach the castle." (Fia)
"Fia, it's warm..." (Zavilia)
After saying that, Zavilia didn't move a muscle, so he must have fallen asleep soon after.
Yeah, kids get sleepy easily.
I got on my horse and rode slowly, trying to avoid shaking as much as possible. They said a sleeping child grows well. I hoped Zavilia would grow up healthy.
When we arrived at the royal castle, I immediately headed towards the Monster Knight Order, but on the way, I passed by some knights from the Sixth Knight Order.
"Fi—Fia, what's with that belly?"
"I know you have an appetite, but can you hold back for a little while?"
...Hello? No matter how you look at it, it's so bloated, there's no way it's my own stomach.
I had a really bad impression of the knights of the Sixth Order!
Feeling uncomfortable, I entered the Monster Knight Order's building when Vice Captain Gideon came walking towards me.
When he saw me, he put his hands on his hips and looked down at me from above in a mocking manner.
"Haha, isn't this a capable knight recommended by the First Knight Captain? Good day, are you going for a walk?" (Gideon)
"I went to the nearby forest on some business. I've just returned." (Fia)
The vice-captain snorted and started to walk past me, but then he seemed to have second thoughts, stopped, and grabbed me by the arm.
"Oh, so you have a family too. Show me your arm." (Gideon)
Then, without waiting for my reply, he rolled up my sleeve.
While thinking that Vice Captain Assistant Patty and the captain of the Monster Knight Order were quite forceful, I let them do what they wanted, until Vice Captain Gideon spotted the familiar mark on my left wrist and blinked several times. Then, he brought his face closer and looked at the mark closely, muttering something like I didn't understand what it meant.
"What is this? Is it really possible for something this thin to be used as proof? Or rather, what kind of monster would be facing something this thin?" (Gideon)
He glared at me and made a mocking noise.
"You're amazing. It's a rare occurrence, but you must have come across a monster that was close to death. So, you made a familiar contract with it?" (Gideon)
"Huh?! How do you know?" (Fia)
I looked up at Vice Captain Gideon in shock, and he gave me a look of genuine contempt.
"Because I am 100 times smarter than you. Don't think that you are on equal footing with us just because you have one weak monster under your command. Even if you had 100 monsters under your command, you would still be beneath me." (Gideon)
He pushed me hard on the shoulder, but all I could do was shake my head.
Hmm? I wonder if Captain Cyril's tactic, which says nothing beats imagination, is correct?
It feels like I've just determined that Zavilia is extremely weak, but is that just my imagination?
I desperately try to recall my conversation with Captain Cyril.
Ummm……
"So, I think it would be best for you to put on a strong face, maintain a flirtatious attitude, and not mention the monster's name... However, I've never seen anything as thin as one millimeter before, so I wonder how far your bluff will go..." (Cyril in Fia's Recollection)
...That's right. I was told to put on a strong face and maintain a flirtatious attitude. This, this, was missing.
I turned to Vice Captain Gideon and lifted my chin.
"Thank you for your kind words, Vice Captain Gideon. My familiar is not like any other monster. It is the strongest and oldest... Oops, I shouldn't say too much, right?" (Fia)
I tried to cover my mouth with my hand in an exaggerated manner, but Vice Captain Gideon just looked down at me with a disdainful look.
"You're an idiot. You're hopelessly unfit for physical physique. Small and skinny. Without a doubt, you're the weakest of all the knights. And? Since you can't make it as a knight, have you thought about borrowing the power of your familiars? But monsters respect their master. The monsters that follow you are just like you. In other words, it's the weakest, all talk, and most pathetic familiar." (Gideon)
Then, he brought his face closer and looked at me with pitying eyes from close range.
"Really, there's people like you in every organization. Someone who curry favor with the higher-ups and gets things done even though they don't have the skills. Did you lick Captain Cyril's shoes? And then you selfishly said you wanted to hang out with the Monster Knights, and got away with it? Haha, you must have thought you did a good job. You got a near-death familiar, so you thought you'd take this as a lucky chance to join the Monster Knights and increase your value? You're really lowly." (Gideon)
For a moment I blinked, not really understanding what he said, but I was only met with glaring eyes staring back at me.
…Huh? Did I make a mistake here?
Normally, Vice Captain Gideon would be imagining something amazing in my familiar and trembling with fear, but no matter how I looked at it, he's not scared or trembling. Or rather, he's angry.
... I'm sorry, Captain Cyril. I was given a great plan, but I couldn't make good use of it. Or rather, I had a bad attitude and made him angry. As a result, my flirtatious attitude was a failure!
As I was slumped over, I heard someone quickly approach me from the other side of the hallway.
"Vice Captain!" (Patty)
It was Vice Captain Assistant Patty who called out in a tense atmosphere.
"It's serious! We've received information that the Black King has appeared in 'Starry Forest'!!" (Patty)
"What?! That's ridiculous!!" (Gideon)
Vice Captain Gideon's expression disappeared, and he shouted in shock.
...Starry Forest? I just went to pick up Zavilia.
I wondered if something happened?